And then God says "POOF"!!!

[Sava]

Boris

[:) Smiley]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
And not just that woman. Read your Bible; He's one sadistic s.o.b.

And rather misogynist and racist. I wonder if He eats meat.

[KrazyHorse]

Yes. Genesis 4:1-5

God hates carrots

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Smiley


And rather misogynist and racist. I wonder if He eats meat.

And a homophobe going by the thread title

[Q Classic]

Re: And then God says "POOF"!!!

Originally posted by Tiamat
You know just when you think you have time to wallow in your own self pitty party......God says oh rrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeealllllllllly you think you've got it bad?!?!!

I just started a new job yesterday as a Nurses Aide for a home care patient. So yeah here I am feeling all sorry for myself and all the crap that's happened in the past few weeks and I get assigned a woman who was an ICU nurse, married for 15 years, beautiful daughter and then BAM!!! gets hit by a car and looses leg, partialy paralized, closed head trauma etc.... So yeah, that's a bit of a reality check. Just when you think you're life isn't going so good the big man upstairs let's you know it could be worse. Shows me I need to count my blessings every day and be greatful for every healthy, normal day that I can draw breath.

See, it's times like this when I almost think the Joker and Harley Quinn have things all right.

To the Joker, everything, no matter how bad or evil, is a joke. It's hilarious.

Or, like in Firefly, Ep 114 "Objects in Space", where Jubal Early suggests that doctors shouldn't operate on others until they've been operated on.

Looks like the ICU nurse will get a chance to see both sides of her job~ God gave her that opportunity! Make lemonade out of hay!

[Tiamat]

Tis what I was trying to say. I wasn't making lemonade out of my situation and was to busy thinking I had it bad only to be shown that no matter how bad we each as individuals think we have it, not to loose sight that there are people all over the world that have it much worse then us. Just made me greatful. And no Boris I don't think God zapped her!

[Boris Godunov]

[Japher]

It's always good to see god zapping other ppl too. That's why I watch the news.

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Agathon


Nothing you did would matter. Most people have this funny thing about their choices actually meaning something.

If everyone is happy, clearly they wouldn't be unhappy about their choices not meaning anything.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Last Conformist

If everyone is happy, clearly they wouldn't be unhappy about their choices not meaning anything.

It's a moot point if anyone could be happy in the absence of the real possibility of unhappiness.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov


Where did I say that people should be happy all the time? You missed the point totally. That a god would let bad things happen to people is different than the implication that a god would deliberately cause such suffering to a stranger in order to "teach a lesson" to someone else. Were I religious, I would still have major objections to this notion. It's similar to my eye-rolling at people who survive disasters claiming their god was protecting them, the implication being that he wasn't protecting those who did die (and thereby insinuating they deserved to die).

Given that God is supposed to be omnipotent it doesn't make a difference. Try again.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Agathon
Given that God is supposed to be omnipotent it doesn't make a difference. Try again.

I certainly don't follow that line of reasoning, unless you're still missing the point.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Besides the Roman or Norse Gods who'd cause suffering for amusment were the real cool Gods

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov

I certainly don't follow that line of reasoning, unless you're still missing the point.

It makes no difference whether God causes something or does not prevent it from happening. To believe that it does, you need to believe that there is an essential moral difference between acts and omissions.

There isn't.

So God not preventing someone from dying in a hurricane is no different from killing someone by means of it. And in any case, since religions typically hold that everything that is not the result of human agency (and even that is suspect) is causally dependent on the deity God is responsible for the whole lot.

Your point was that God causing harm to people as a lesson branded him as necessarily evil.

My point was that this betrays a shallow understanding of religion. If you are going to criticise them at least get it right, and don't rely on your usual supercilious barbs.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Agathon
It makes no difference whether God causes something or does not prevent it from happening. To believe that it does, you need to believe that there is an essential moral difference between acts and omissions.

There isn't.

Want to take a wager on what the majority of Christians think about the matter? I'd wager they would disagree. In fact, the most common explanation for horrific disasters I've seen from religious types is that their god isn't responsible for those disasters specifically, but rather for the islands of good that emerge from them.

A deistic god is no different, morally, from a god who actively engages in acts of cruelty? I think most religionists (especially Christians) would heartily disagree. It's one of the chief complaints they have against Deism as a philosophy. Although, I am curious as to whether or not you feel that there is no difference between your not being a cop and actively going out and robbing people.

Your point was that God causing harm to people as a lesson branded him as necessarily evil.

No, my point was that God causing harm to other people to teach someone else a lesson brands him necessarily evil. I can reasonably accept misfortunes that befall one as being life lessons or karma. But collateral damage? I don't think an omnipotent god would need to be so imprecise. Any all-powerful being should be able to aim.

My point was that this betrays a shallow understanding of religion. If you are going to criticise them at least get it right, and don't rely on your usual supercilious barbs.

So how many Christians out there really believe that God would inflict suffering on innocents in order to teach lessons to a few others? None I know of. Those that do seem to be of the "Hurricane Katrina was a vengeful fetus" crowd, which would hardly seem representative, I hope.

I'm not launching any barbs at religion here, I'm questioning the notion that a god is out there causing misery to many for someone else's supposed benefit. It's a self-centered philosophy that implies that those who suffer such fates are not as worthy as those who learn the lessons. Just like those who claim their prayers must have been answered when they escaped some calamity, ignoring the bodies piled up right behind them. I think people who like to proclaim the will of god in such matters are being quite thoughtless about the implications it has.